Sub-prime thoughts Pt. 2

Quote from John McCain – May 2006

“For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. (We need) to reform them without delay.”

Yesterday, I spoke of Barack Obama’s sub-prime thoughts and offered my critique on his statements. Now, we look at John McCain’s thoughts on the mortgage crisis.

The Democrats in Washington are delighting in one thing right now. They are loving the fact that the current economic woes are being pinned 100% on the Republicans. Not 75%, not 85%, or 93%, but 100%. They are using President Bush as a criticism shield, and sure enough, all of the criticism is being blocked by George W. Bush. Nice strategy, eh? It's been going on for 7.5 years.

I would say that President Bush does deserve some blame for the American economic problems as of late. However, just because the Democrats in Washington D.C. are weaseling out of some of the blame, doesn’t mean that they aren’t actually responsible for many of the economic issues that are surrounding the United States right now.

One thing that Democrats should really own up to is the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae crisis. As discussed in the previous post, the Democratic Party took a vested interest in allowing Freddie/Fannie to liberalize their loan requirements. And again, if the corporations fail, it’s OK! The federal government to the rescue! Hooray for socialism democracy!

However, more than two years ago, John McCain made the statement above. While the Democrats would have you believe that John McCain wants to de-regulate everything on this planet, it’s simply not true. Senator McCain just wants to make the regulations that we currently have more modern, coherent, and straightforward.

Many economists believe that the credit crisis, the nationwide recession, the fall of the dollar, and the weakening of the American economy began with the sub-prime mortgage crisis. So, when it comes to economics, it seems as though John McCain appreciated, understood, and foresaw the mortgage crisis in a wise way.

As I like to do from time to time, I’ll be blunt. John McCain is no economic wizard. His strength comes from leadership, national security, heroism, bipartisanship, and common sense. However, regardless of whatever you have heard, or whatever you will hear in the coming weeks, Barack Obama lacked some serious judgment in regards to this crisis, while John McCain called for reworking the regulatory structure.

By the way, when it came to a vote for this reworking (due to concern about the sustainability of looser lending practices), all of the Democrats on the Senate committee voted AGAINST it, while all of the Republicans voted FOR it. This is a little secret that the Democratic Party would love to keep from you as you head to the voting booth next month.